In the same week that Romano Prodi was called to account by debt campaigners on Italy’s dismal failure to keep up with committments undertaken at the G8 summit in Gleneagles, and in the same week that toxic fumes floated throughout the region of Campania as illegaly dumped rubbish throughout the province burned (one solution to […]

It seems that no news bulletin is complete, these days, without some reference to how wicked the internet can be. We’re consistently shown on lunch time news bulletins videos, of students behaving poorly, that have been posted on YouTube. TV journalists in Italy have yet to devote any time to a website that is proving […]

Further to our last post, the documentary on Sex Crimes and the Vatican was shown on RAI due’s Anno Zero programme – albeit a week late, after the programme’s presenter took the opportunity to double check the documentary’s accuracy in the face of heavy criticism from the Vatican and various politicians. Despite the heavy insinuations, […]

A leading Italian current affairs programme has opted to buy the BBC documentary ‘Sex Crimes and the Vatican’ to be transmitted this Thursday along with a studio debate. In most of the free world controversy comes after the broadcast of sensitive programmes like this. When toes have been trod upon, one can expect a reaction. […]

In the week that Silvio Berlusconi’s Mediaset announced a take over of Dutch programming giant Endemol, as if by coincidence, Romano Prodi’s government are starting to chart the waters for a new law on conflicts of interest. Good luck to them. There is, perhaps, no other country in the EU that needs such a law […]

Today, after almost two months of publicity and preparation, a demonstration will take place in Rome in support of the family. The Italian family is in decline, it would seem. Low birth rates and marriage rates, according to the organisers demand urgent action on the part of the government.

Almost four years ago a row exploded over the display of religious symbols in state-run institutions. An Italian convert to Islam brought the state to court, demanding that a crucifix prominently displayed in his daughter’s classroom be taken down. The case was decided, initially, in his favour, provoking tempered headlines in right-wing outlets worldwide along […]

I’m perversely partial to reading the Becker Posner blog, a dialogue on various themes between Economics professor Gary Becker and Law professor and judge Richard Posner. Posner’s worldview, is always worth a chuckle, were it not for the fear lurking at the back of your mind that he actually means even half of what he […]

One of the more interesting figures on the Italian political scene is Antonio di Pietro, founder of the Italia dei Valori party, and someone who first came to public prominence as a prosecuting magistrate during the mani pulite era, when Italy’s ruling political class was decimated by investigations into corruption. Di Pietro’s party, founded in […]